Delphi – Porting a unicode enabled Delphi 2006 application to Delphi 2009

delphidelphi-2009unicode

I have an application which is fully unicode compatible in Delphi 2006. I had replaced all AnsiStrings with WideStrings, replaced all VCL controls with TNT controls, and changed all string functions from AnsiStrings to WideStrings. It looks like all that work was for nothing, because I'm going to have to reverse it all. Is there anyway to Trick Delphi 2009 into thinking Widestrings are in fact UnicodeStrings?

Best Answer

No, there really isn't. But you won't regret the work to truly Unicode enable your application.

The TNT controls can easily be replaced with the regular VCL controls. You can do that pretty simply using the wizard from GExperts (http://www.gexperts.org) that replaces one control type with another automatically.

Then, you can change all your WideString declarations to regular strings. String is now an alias for UnicodeString, and so all your strings can hold Unicode data just fine.

BTW, the author of the TNT controls, Troy Wolbrink, now vastly prefers Delphi 2009 over his own controls.

Related Solutions

Delphi 2009 + Unicode + Char-size

With Unicode SizeOf(SomeChar) <> Length(SomeChar). Essentially the length of a string is less then the sum of the size of its chars. As long as you don't assume SizeOf(Char) = 1, or SizeOf(SomeString[x]) = 1 (since both are FALSE now) or try to interchange bytes with chars, then you shouldn't have any trouble. Any place you are doing something creative stuffing Bytes into Chars or Strings, then you will need to use AnsiString.

(SizeOf(SomeString) is still 4 no matter the length since it is essentially a pointer with some compiler magic.)

Delphi – Unicode Console Application in Delphi 2009

I'm not sure that is what you're after, but you can create Unicode console applications in all 32-bit Delphi versions by using the Windows API functions. I just tried with Delphi 4:

program test;

{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

uses
  Windows;

var
  s: WideString;
  i: integer;
  Written: Cardinal;
begin
  SetLength(s, 80);
  for i := 1 to 80 do
    s[i] := WideChar(48 + i);
  WriteConsoleW(GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE), PWideChar(s), 80, Written,
    nil);
end.

I don't have Delphi 2009 to try how entering Unicode strings in the editor works...

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Delphi 2009 + Unicode + Char-size

Delphi – Unicode Console Application in Delphi 2009

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